Our invention relates to lighting devices and more particularly to a lamp assembly featuring provisions for dissipating the heat emitted by the light source incorporated therein. The lamp assembly in accordance with our invention finds a typical application as a supplemental high mounted stop lamp on a motor vehicle, although we do not wish our invention to be limited to this particular application.
The high mounted stop lamp or lamps are mounted high and, usually, just inwardly of the rear window of a vehicle for supplementing its rear mounted stop lamp system. The stop lamps give a steady warning light through an intervening vehicle or vehicles to operators of the following vehicles to indicate the intension of the vehicle operator to stop or diminish speed by braking. Being mounted interiorly of the vehicle body, the supplemental high mounted stop lamps should not emit too much heat because such heat can discomfort the operator and other rider or riders of the vehicle. The overheating of the lamp housing itself is also objectionable because its useful life will markedly decrease, particularly if it is molded of a plastic which is less heat resistant than metal.
As far as we are aware, however, there have been suggested or used no supplemental high mounted stop lamps that are designed to avoid the overheating of the lamp housing and to avoid the resulting radiation of heat into the interior of the vehicle body.